According to Reuters, a thorough examination of hundreds of pages of court records and interviews with seven chiefs of police and prosecution in Italy exposed the extent of mafia involvement in the country’s business community and the financial burden this is placing on the government.

According to the prosecution, business owners who are eager to discover new ways to evade taxes frequently assist in these crimes. Italy has a long-standing issue with tax cheating, which cost the government 83 billion euros (R1.3 trillion) in 2021, according to the latest Treasury figures.

“In Italy, there is no social stigma for those who issue false invoices or evade taxes, social views on economic crimes are very different to those regarding drug trafficking.”

Investigators claim that although the perpetrators of this scam were found guilty and sent to prison, many more criminals elude them, in part because of regulations that restrict the amount of time that can be spent prosecuting white-collar crimes.

The statute of limitations is six years for tax evasion, eight years for failing to pay value-added tax and ten years for filing for fake bankruptcy. Prosecutors assert that even in cases when a conviction is reached, the appeals process is frequently drawn out and that intricate investigations can take many years.

Considering some of the shenanigans corporates get up to, it’s only a matter of time until you won’t be able to tell CEOs from wiseguys.

[source:reuters]